We do have savings and retirement. We also have bills....unfortunately. However, extracurricular activities for our kids are important to us, so we make them a priority in our budget. My dd is training to be a professional ballerina (she's 17) and her training probably costs us $500 a month. She does pay for her own pointe shoes (about $300 a month) with the money she earns from her part-time job. She also teaches dance and uses that money to help off-set some of her other expenses. Summer programs for ballet generally cost anywhere from $2000-$6000 for 4-6 weeks. These are always somewhere out of state and her grandparents contribute to the cost of those. My youngest son is in martial arts and the tuition for that is $60 per month for 2 classes per week. The highest priced belt is the black belt at $100, so our costs for that are minimal. He also participates seasonally in city league sports such as baseball and basketball. He also takes swimming lessons and participates in Cub Scouts. My husband and I both were involved in extra-curricular activities as children, and while I never did become the next Dorothy Hamill :lol:, I learned so much more than how to ice skate. I learned dedication, hard work, the necessity of practice in order to be good at something, patience, sacrifice and pain tolerance. LOL Even though I can see now that figure skating lessons, coaches fees, costumes, etc. were one giant sucking black hole where my father's money disappeared, I so appreciate that my parents believed in and supported my goal.....and me. I always tell them how grateful I am for that. It made me feel important that what I enjoyed was important to them. I know that participating in ice skating (and ballet) helped to make me a more rounded, better adult. And, I can still do a mean scratch spin and an axel. Impresses my kids and their friends to no end! :lol: Hoping my rambling actually answered your question. Diane W. married 22 years homeschooling 3 kiddos for 16 years

I'm so sorry, Megan. :grouphug: I lost my mom six years ago, and I found that writing in a journal really helped a lot. Diane W. married for 22 years homeschooling 3 kiddos for 16 years

My parents are in their 70s. My father got a PhD in Organic Chemistry and my mother (the dd of a coal miner in a VERY rural town) also went to college and received a BA, or maybe it was a BS, in.......secretarial science. Yes, you could get a degree in that in the 1950s. :lol: However, I shouldn't laugh, because she started out as the secretary for the vice president of a large chemical corporation and was making more than my dad (with his PhD) when they met. That changed rather quickly, and of course (per the social expectations of the times), my mother quit her job when she became pregnant with me (born in the mid-1960s). I was expected to go to college. I did and received two bachelor's degrees.....for which I am eternally grateful. I don't work outside my home at the moment, but I know I am prepared me to do so, in a well paying career, should the need arise. My children are expected to go to college. Not necessarily because I think they will earn more money that way, but because I think college is a good experience overall. I think it broadens you, helps you think, and allows you to create life-long friendships. I loved going to college and I would do it all again in a heartbeat!! Diane W. married for 22 years homeschooling 3 kiddos for 16 years

My favorite photographer charges $125 for the first hour and $50 for each additional hour for a sitting fee. His portrait prices are very reasonable. We love him and we don't mind paying the fee. $75 for a sitting fee is an excellent price. Diane W. married 22 years homeschooling 3 kiddos for 16 years

Julie Garwood (her historicals are some of the best out there, IMO) Monica McCarty Tessa Dare Pamela Clare (both contemporary and historical. She's more "spicy", but so, so good) Nothing better than sitting outside on a summer day with a cool drink and a hot book! :001_wub: Diane W. married for 22 years homeschooling 3 kiddos for 16 years

I've never used them, but Amazon might have reviews on them. I also know that Noeo is using the chem kit for their Chemistry III program. They said they were the best chemistry kits on the market. If you do buy them, please post your review. I'd like to know how they are, too! Diane W. married 22 years homeschooling 3 kiddos for 16 years

Darn those passive-agressive proofreaders!!! :lol: Diane W. married for 22 years homeschooling 3 kiddos for 16 years

I started getting the Rainbow catalog in 1996. It was very slim. Now my postman hates me for the ones he's had to deliver over the past few years. :lol: For a curriculum junkie....it's like getting a fix of heroin. Diane W. married 22 years homeschooling 3 kiddos for 16 years

We have a Maytag Epic frontloader and I LOVE it!!! We also had a stupid Sears "Callapso" before we got our new one and I swear, that washer was the biggest piece of garbage ever manufactured. When the delivery guys came to install my new washer, they asked if I wanted to take a sledge hammer to it on the driveway before they hauled it away. I was very tempted. :smash: Diane W. married 22 years homeschooling 3 kiddos for 16 years

Well, I'm using VideoText and my dd loves it. It does cover pre-Algebra in the "Algebra: A Complete Course" set. It really made things a lot easier for her in grasping the concepts and understanding the process. The selling point for me was that every. single. problem. is completely worked out in the solutions manual. That alone sold me. :lol: Diane W. married 22 years homeschooling 3 kiddos for 16 years

I can address the customer service question. Three years ago, when I ordered Animal Worlds for my youngest...it was a bit of a mess. This year I ordered a full highschool LA program and part of the Royals and Revolution program. I had all of it at my door within five business days. To say I was shocked was an understatement. So, yes....their customer service (at least in my case) improved tremendously. I was pleased as punch! Diane W. married for 22 years homeschooling 3 kiddos for 16 years

Oh, no! I'm so, so sorry! :grouphug: Diane W.

The Time Traveler CDs are AMAZING! You can order them on their own from www.homeschoolinthewoods.com . They also have a lesson plan, so you can just add them to whatever program you decide to use and work them in where they fit, or they can stand alone as well. My kids loved them, and people constantly comment on the gorgeous lapbooks and notebooks they did with that program. Diane W. married 22 years homeschooling 3 kiddos for 16 years

You want the second half of American history, right? For a 3rd and 5th grader, I would use WP's American Culture 1860-2001. It's geared for grades 5-8, but one of the best rules I ever learned about homeschooling was to teach to your oldest when you're combining material. The younger ones will absorb what is appropriate for their age, and let the rest go. If you wanted a little bit more geared towards your youngest, I might add the "Make your Own" history book from American Story 2 and possibly the "American Achievements" activity pack, also from their American Story 2 program. You might also look over some of their read-alouds for the younger age and pick up one or two of them. I think that would work out really well for the ages you're teaching. Diane W. married 22 years homeschooling 3 kiddos for 16 years

Two kids have had them done. Oldest is completely finished. DD has her retainer. And, my youngest will get his braces in about five years. Here in Utah, the going rate is about $4000 for the standard treatment. My insurance pays $1000. Yep, it's expensive, but so worth it! Diane W. married for 22 years homeschooling 3 kiddos for 16 years

We've used KONOS for years and have loved it! The History's Heroes are excerpts of units taken from one of their larger volumes. They are excellent, fun to do and my kids retained an unbelievable amount of knowledge from them. You will, however, be gathering the supplies yourself. Quite honestly, what I would do, is use the books from WP and the curriculum and activity ideas from KONOS. You could make up your own reading schedule from the WP books. Another idea is to combine KONOS, the WP read-alouds and the activities from www.homeschoolinthewoods.com. Their notebooks and lapbooks are AMAZING and my family loved them!! I can't even begin to tell you what a fabulous history resource they are. And, there is a lesson plan done for you. Diane W. married 22 years homeschooling 3 kiddos for 16 years

I used AW for my youngest in kindergarten. It was fun, but some of the read-alouds were above his head at five. Some he enjoyed quite a bit. I tweaked it a lot, but overall, I wasn't completely sold on it. Fast forward three years.... My dd (high school) wanted to study European history and was browsing through the WP catalog and told me she thought their "Royals to Revolution" program was what she wanted. We decided to get it along with their high school LA 3 program and so far we've loved it. The readings mesh with the material, the books are interesting and we're both learning quite a bit. Next year I will get American Story 1 for my youngest and my dd will do the TOG units that correspond with that time period. Diane W. married 22 years homeschooling 3 kiddos for 16 years

I haven't done their other LA programs. I was using the WTM guidelines for the most part for LA previous to this year. However, the readers that WP uses for the younger LA programs I have used independently with my youngest (because I disliked the Veritas Press ones that came with their program so much). I loved the readers. They were fun, engaging, and my son adored them. Barnes & Noble carries them, so you can always go and check them out before you buy if you prefer. Diane W. married for 22 years homeschooling 3 kiddos for 16 years

Wow....you MADE the dolls??? I'm impressed. I would have just bought a couple of corn husk dolls from Michaels, put a nametag on them that said, "Guy Fawkes" and called it good. :lol: Diane W. married for 22 years homeschooling 3 kiddos for 16 years

WP does have assignments, but there aren't any "workbooks" per se with the themed programs. They do have "Make Your Own" worksheets based on the individual themes. The course I am teaching now, "Royals to Revolution" has an "Exhibit the World's Fair" component, which is project based work geared for high schoolers to do independently. There is also a classical composers and art appreciation part of the course that we've really enjoyed. The lessons are presented in more of an outline form, like Sonlight. I tweak it here and there and add what I like and remove what I don't. WP has samples of their lesson plans on their website, so you can get an idea of how it's organized. They also give video/DVD suggestions and websites which really add to the lessons, IMO. In addition to their theme unit, I'm also using their "British Literature" LA course for my dd. She's liking that as well. It's more a "sampling" of British Lit., but I am changing it and doing the complete work if it is something I feel is really important to read in its entirety. Also wanted to say that I also have used TOG in the past and will probably use the last 2 units from their Year 3 and the first two units from their Year 4 for the base of my dd's senior year starting in the fall. Diane W. married for 22 years homeschooling 3 kiddos for 16 years

I'm always happy to talk about homeschooling and my curriculum! I'm a curriculum junkie and this feeds my habit. LOL Sorry in advance for the length of this post. Lets see: I have 3 children....DS 19 (graduated and serving a church mission), DD 17 (finishing up her "junior year") and our happy surprise, DS 9 (finishing up 3rd grade). My curriculum choices have evolved from years of researching, investing, buying and using the stuff. When we first began, the choices were pretty limited to Abeka, Bob Jones, KONOS and Calvert. We went with Calvert from K-4th with my oldest. They are actually quite classical in their approach and their teacher manuals really taught me how to teach. Then one day, we were working on a "read the chapter, answer the questions at the end" assignment with my son and he sighed and said, "Mom, I really hate this. And, I'm not learning anything. I forget it all as soon as I finish the chapter." Yikes! My first thought was, "Oh no, I have to do KONOS!" :lol: So, I started with a KONOS unit study over the summer just to see if I could do it. My kids LOVED it. They didn't even know they were doing school. So, I bit the bullet, bought KONOS, went and got a TON of books on Charlotte Mason theory, Waldorf, hands-on learning and the Well Trained Mind (which had just been published) and dug in. I sat outside everyday with my highlighter and a large glass of something cold and caffeinated and read, read, read. When I'd finished, I looked over the highlighted section of everything that really resonated with me and formed my "educational philosophy". LOL It's basically that I think a child's education needs to be rigorous and thorough, but that does NOT mean it has to be dry and boring. I think most young children learn best by hands-on methods and so unit studies became my way of teaching what would be called "classical material". With my elementary kids, we read engaging "real" books, we dig into our topics through experiential learning...we cook, we play, we sing, we get messy, we glue, we paint, we laugh and we make learning fun. I am much more concerned with the process than the product at this stage. I want my children to love to learn. I want it to be an exciting adventure. Please note: this does not translate into huge projects, crafts or field trips every day. Some days it's worksheets only. But we do read something engaging every day. So....in real life...if we are doing a unit study on birds (we did this in first grade), we set up bird feeders in our yard, we study a whole chicken (before I throw it in the crockpot), we examine feathers with a magnifying glass and discuss their qualities (Why are they hollow? Why are there downy feathers and flight feathers? Why does water bead on them?), we study bird eating and migratory habits, we go to the nature center near our home for a field trip, we read about John Audubon, go on a picnic with our nature notebooks and try to sketch birds in the wild as he did. We get immersed in our subject and I allow my kids to investigate and explore...even if it's a bit messy. For my older kids, I expect product, not just process. So, with Winter Promise (or KONOS high school curriculum...I've used and loved both), it is still a loosely based unit study, but the topics are deeper and the questions require more mature thought and, obviously, more rigorous work. One of the questions in the KONOS "Ancient Worlds" curriculum for high school led to a very lively dinner table discussion. We had been learning about ancient Egypt and the mummies and how they were on display in the Cairo museum. The question posed was, "How would you feel if a future civilization dug up George Washington or Abraham Lincoln and removed him from his tomb and put his body on display in a museum? Would it be ok? Would it only be ok if several thousand years have passed? Would it never be ok?" In high school, I want to develop my child's reasoning and communication skills through topics such as logic, debate and good, strong writing. I didn't make transcripts, because our state and private universities here in Utah are very friendly to home schoolers. They suggested taking a couple of on-line college courses while my kids were in high school (most of them offer independent study options here) and they would evaluate them based on how well they performed in those courses. My daughter does want to attend college and she will take the ACT (what our universities here prefer) and a few online courses starting in the fall. For science this year, we have used "Friendly Chemistry" (Rainbow carries it). My dd didn't really like Apologia and her grandpa has a PhD in Organic Chem, so he helps her with that. She will probably take an online science course for her senior year. For Math we use VideoText. It has worked extremely well for her. She likes the way the concepts are presented and she just goes at her own speed. I love that every. single. problem. is completely worked out in the solutions manual. Every step, not just the answer. That alone sold me on it. Well, that and Cathy Duffy's recommendation. :D As far as Winter Promise, my dd was very interested in their "Royals to Revolution" course. She wanted to study European History and that seemed to fit the bill. I had tried Animal Worlds with my youngest and we liked it, but it didn't wow me. I really do like the high school program though. I love their reading material and we are both learning quite a bit. WP's choices for literature are great, too. My dd is slightly dyslexic and she still prefers me to read aloud, because the words start swimming on the page if she has to do a lot of independent reading. I have yet to find a curriculum that has been perfectly written to my standards :lol:, so I've just accepted that I will need to tweak whatever I choose. And, since I have more curriculum than a booth at a homeschool convention.....I can do that. (Hello, my name is Diane and I am addicted to curriculum) For next year, my dd wants to concentrate on American history....her favorite and mine. So, I'm planning on getting American Story 1 from WP and using it in conjunction with KONOS (which I already own) so that my little one can tag along. For my dd, I will probably write out my own lesson plans using KONOS American History and books from Veritas Press. I always look at curriculum like a buffet....pick and choose what I like from it and discard the rest without a shred of guilt. Hope I answered what you were asking. Please feel free to ask more if there's something I can clarify. Diane W. married 22 years homeschooling 3 kiddos for 16 years

I used it when my youngest was in first grade (he's in third grade now). I loved the worksheets and teacher's manual, etc. HATED the readers. Absolutely detested them. Couldn't use them. They were so contrived (IMO) and their forced use of whatever vowel sounds or blends a particular story focused on left the actual text of the reader VERY dry and almost nonsensical. It also bugged me that in the one on the Civil War, they changed Stonewall Jackson's name to "Rock" because the children hadn't come to long vowel sounds yet. :001_huh: So, I used the worksheets (except for the ones pertaining to the readers), sang the songs and played the games....but substitued other beginning readers that I liked better. Diane W. married 22 years homeschooling 3 kiddos for 16 years

We are using their "Royals to Revolution" right now with my high schooler and she loves it. I only order the guides from them, not the actual books (unless they're unavailable anywhere else), and that seems to work better. I get all the books from Amazon, which I really like, because I usually stagger the order with what I need for the first ten weeks of the program, then the next ten weeks and so on. It's a little easier on the pocketbook that way. I also combine Winterpromise with KONOS and we have done some AMAZING unit studies that way! Diane W. married for 22 years homeschooling 3 kiddos for 16 years

We loved "Write Shop", too! Easy to use and really taught my kids to write well. Rainbow Resource carries it. Diane W. married for 22 years homeschooling 3 kiddos for 16 years

I second Ken Burns. Also, "Liberty" by PBS. The History Channel and the Biography Channel have really great profiles of individual presidents. We also used the PBS series of presidential biographies this past year and loved them. Diane W. married for 22 years homeschooling 3 kiddos for 16 years